Media release – Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP, Greens Leader, 16 December 2024
As summer heats, Liberals fail to act on climate risks to Tasmanians
The Government’s recently released Tasmania’s Risk Assessment for Climate Change shows increased risks to Tasmanians from the changing climate, and lists urgent actions necessary to strengthen infrastructure, communities, the environment and food systems in the next five years as a protective response.
These include health, emergency services and transport infrastructure, protecting our land and marine ecosystems, ensuring physical safety and wellbeing of communities, and improving our food system networks.
The Liberals’ lack of a detailed response to this serious call for action shows they’re more focussed on maintaining the interests of business as usual, instead of making significant changes to protect Tasmanians and the environment from disasters.
Deloitte’s climate change risk assessment paints a deeply concerning picture of worsening risks from extreme heat, dry conditions, fires, floods, storm surges, sea level rise and coastal erosion. Tasmanians are already experiencing the changing climate and many are rightly worried about how the Rockliff government is not properly responding to these threats.
Tasmanians need to see a timeline of actions to this risk assessment, with funding attached, as evidence the Liberals are treating the increased climate change risks seriously. The recent ‘emissions reductions plans’ the government released for each sector do not come with new funding, and aren’t binding actions.
It’s time for the Liberals to stop trading in climate delay and inaction to suit big corporate interests and continue business as usual. As we head into another hot summer, the Rockliff Government needs to remember they have a responsibility to keep all Tasmanians safe, and to look after the natural world that sustains us.